April and the Cardinal Grand Cross: Embracing the pain during this major cosmic event

“The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place. It will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!” – Rocky Balboa

Beware this April, when we’ll experience a precise and stressful alignment between four heavy-duty planets in the sky. Mars, the planet of action and energy, is currently traveling retrograde in Libra. Jupiter, the planet of expansion, is moving through the sign Cancer. Revolutionary Uranus is in Aries and transformative Pluto is in Capricorn. Each of these planets is in a Cardinal sign — and Cardinal signs are known for thrusting forward to usher in what is new. This is why we associate each of the Cardinal signs with the beginning of a new season.

OK, so far it doesn’t seem too wild. Well that’s because I haven’t told you the part yet that has astrologers so fascinated.

The math.

Deconstructing the cross

During the week of April 20, Mars will form a stressful 90-degree angle called a square to both Jupiter and Pluto. Jupiter will square off with Uranus. In addition, Uranus and Pluto will square one another in yet another famous square (we’ve experienced this one since 2012). Mars will also oppose Uranus while Jupiter will oppose Pluto. This precise mathematical pattern is one of the most rare, and most difficult of all. It is called a Grand Square or a Grand Cross.

Symbolically, such a pattern suggests that we’re boxed in, feeling all sorts of frustration and pressure without any way out. It’s like being trapped in a gas chamber or burning building. It hurts like hell.

What makes this alignment even more compelling is the fact that three of these planets are potentially toxic when aligned to one another in difficult aspect. Those planets are Mars (war), Uranus (sudden change) and Pluto (intense alteration). Jupiter in the mix does not help in this case. Sure, this planet is connected to luck and abundance but what is often overlooked about Jupiter is that his function is to expand whatever ELSE he touches. In this case Jupiter will inflate a very stressful pattern. Ouch.

Adding to the mix is a potent, stressed-out Lunar Eclipse in Libra on April 15. This eclipse occurs at 25 degrees Libra while the Cardinal Cross will peak at 14 degrees. All this does is extend ground zero for those with personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars) or angles in a Cardinal sign. Almost no one with heavy Cardinal energy in their chart will be exempt from April’s cosmic storm.

But what does this mean?

Essentially, the planet Earth and any individuals with charts triggered by April’s energy are going into labor. There will be exquisite pain and you’ll feel really knocked down. If you persevere however, you’ll find that the cosmic contractions of April will be the catalyst leading to the birth of something remarkable in your world.

I remember when I found out I was pregnant with my first born. I really wanted a home birth and a natural labor. I felt with every fiber of my being that the only way to truly get through the promised pain of giving birth was to EXPERIENCE and EMBRACE the pain. In my view, trying to numb or stop it would only add to the fear and confuse the process. It was the natural process of CHANGE that my body had to endure to GIVE LIFE.

My philosophy about this was something I was passionate about. I really didn’t want outside interference, but my husband at the time vehemently disagreed. He won … sort of. My solution when I went into labor was to keep it a secret so that I could retain control and stay home for as long as possible. I was nine centimeters dilated by the time I arrived at the hospital and began pushing about 15 minutes later. The doctor apologized to me that I would have to endure the pain since it was too late for medication.

I remember being so angry that he said that to me. Didn’t he understand? I WANTED the pain. I NEEDED the pain. It was the only way my body could possibly know that this was really happening. That change was imminent.

Life and death of course, are two sides of the same coin. My son stopped breathing while I was pushing him out and the doctor ended up performing an emergency C-section to save his life. Vincent was born on August 10, 1999 and happens to have a Grand Cross in his birth chart. The one in April will be in Cardinal signs but my son has one in Fixed signs.

Manifesting the Grand Cross

The result of this is that I am intimately familiar with Grand Cross energy. I get to live every day with the complexity and intensity of someone who is always boxed in by his own psyche. Someone who is constantly punched down by life yet, somehow, keeps getting back up. I tell Vincent all the time that he has the potential to become an incredibly successful man because he chose a chart filled with adversity in this lifetime. He chose the hard road. He chose a birth chart that, through painful experiences and losses has the potential to train him to be a winner.

My favorite celebrity example of someone with a Cardinal Cross in their birth chart is Steve Jobs. Was he an easy person to get along with? Not by any stretch. In many ways he was his own worst enemy. Did he accomplish great things in his life time and EVEN GREATER things after he fell? You bet. That’s because Steve Jobs, like my son, knew how to take a punch without allowing the agony to defeat him.

This, my friends, is the essence of April’s energy. If you start to feel boxed in, you need to reorient your perspective. You are merely in the boxing ring.

I assure you, there will be pain. But I also promise that if you EMBRACE and EXPERIENCE the suffering, it will give you the control and the determination you need to DIRECT IT.